2 Corinthians 4 Commentary
A medical doctor is one by qualification. There are papers to back it up. Saints are missionaries by zero qualification. Verse 1 seems to communicate this understanding. It is all through the mercy of God.
They are salesmen and saleswomen. Strange salespersons; honest salespersons. They don’t use deception. They don’t distort information about the product.
Because they are on the job by calling rather than qualification, it probably explains why they don’t commend themselves. And if you are selling an infinitely perfect product, how can you improve it with sweet words? Well, the sweet words would be true! Isn’t Jesus every possible good word? Even more than has ever been inverted, or can ever be inverted?
Let light shine out of darkness: Paul references the creation events in the Book of Genesis. The LORD God makes this same light shine in the hearts of believers. According to the Gospel of John, this light is Jesus Christ. The connection is explicit. The light, (if any light), in the saint is actually the Spirit of Jesus.
Heavy, right? Yes. But strangely, this light is housed in jars of clay – a deliberate divine design. It is a spec that doesn’t sit well with many of us. Greatness is housed in pots of clay! The LORD doesn’t want you to focus on the container lest you forget the real treasure inside!
Notice how God dismantles and actually flattens your physical self to ensure only Jesus remains standing in your life! Only pots of clay can host God’s gift to mankind!
Think of this pot of clay as your soul – your physical self. “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” It is a miracle that these pots of clay can still hold!
Again, it is a design spec! Let the saint carry death (nothingness/meaninglessness), only so that the life of Jesus can manifest. The world can see the difference. Jesus becomes the difference.
The New Testament is riddled with confusion over names and the ownership of the names. Verse 14 would top the list. Who raised Jesus Christ from the dead? The Holy Spirit? The Spirit of Jesus? The Spirit of God? They all occupy the same undefined space! We really don’t have to kill ourselves with these head-splitting thoughts. Regardless, one day, Jesus will return and take us to himself.
In the Gospels, it helps to try to understand which version of Jesus you are dealing with.
The pot of clay is here and presently exposed to weather conditions. It can also easily be broken. Again, this pot still exists by the mercies of the LORD. God gets the glory!
The saint wants to think of times when they have fallen sick or when their bodies begin to succumb to aging. It happens even when God’s greatest gift remains in them. It is a deliberate divine design specification that pots of clay house God’s greatest treasure.
The president of the USA would pass as the most important item in the nation. He is housed in the most protected and heavily fortified house. The LORD works in reverse. Humanity’s greatest treasure is housed in clay pots that easily break with zero fortification – the meaning of venerability, physical weakness, shame, or even foolishness in the eyes of the perishing. Ponder.
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